California High Speed Rail Blog: HSR Stimulus and Project Timetables
Monday, June 1, 2009
HSR Stimulus and Project Timetables
The CHSRA's recent application to the US Department of Transportation for federal HSR stimulus money may wind up causing construction on the HSR project to begin not in the Central Valley as was originally planned, but in the Bay Area and Southern California, as this article from the Valley Voice explains. Keep in mind though that this doesn't mean the Central Valley is being left behind, but only that construction will commence slightly later, and that the Valley is still the key to the whole system:
High Speed Rail Authority spokesperson Kris Deutschman said it is true that both the northern and southern segments of the rail system are further along in the planning stage than the Central Valley, but what actually gets built first is yet to be determined. At one time, it was believed the Valley segment would be one of the first constructed.
However, earlier this month, the Authority approved a list of shovel-ready construction projects likely to qualify for $8 billion in federal stimulus funding for high speed trains.
According to the Authority, one of the project elements selected was the entire Los Angeles-to-Anaheim and San Francisco-to-San Jose corridors, where the Authority is expected to have completed the project level environmental documents this year and qualified and selected design build teams to begin construction of the sections by the 2012 deadline.
The Authority also selected a second stimulus project that would be the identification, selection and negotiation of right-of-way acquisition in the Merced-to-Bakersfield section, including the system's planned maintenance facility, but not the rail system.
That Merced-to-Bakersfield ROW is key because that's where the all-important train testing will occur:
Georgiana Vivian, with the Authority, told members of the Tulare Sunrise Rotary Club that because of the federal stimulus funding, the projects first considered “shovel ready” must be built first. Right now, the San Francisco-to-San Jose segment is by far the farthest along, with the Los Angeles-to-Anaheim segment second.
Vivian said construction on the Central Valley segment may not begin for another seven years, but Deutschman said that does not mean that portions of the Valley line could not be built sooner and there is a key reason at least a portion of the Valley line is important.
“We need to test trains on long stretches of flat land and the Valley would be best for that,” she said. Vivian said the timetable is to begin testing trains by 2015 and that the Authority must test the trains and tracks for three years before passengers can be carried. That means the earliest riders will be able to get aboard the high speed rail is 2018.
I think what Vivian meant to say was that construction on the full buildout of the Valley segment might not happen until 2015 or 2016, but that a test track will be built much sooner. As I understand it, that's about the same as what occurred with BART, where an East Bay test track was built in the late '60s even though the first segments of the system did not open until 1972, with the full buildout (as of the 1970s) not occurring until 1974.
The article also examines the status of a Visalia-Hanford station (the CHSRA is studying it but isn't committing to anything yet) and notes that Castle Airport near Merced is likely to be the location of the primary maintenance hub, with two smaller maintenance facilities "at either end" of the line (i.e. somewhere in the Bay Area and somewhere in SoCal). As to what we can expect from the stimulus:
Deutschman said the Authority should hear by the end of June if it is going to get any stimulus money, but it is confident some will come. When asked how many dollars the high speed rail might get, she replied, “All I'm hearing are billions.”
That sounds about right, given what we've heard from Ray LaHood. Just how many "billions" it'll be is an open question. I'd like to see something in the vicinity of $3 to $4 billion.
Posted by Robert Cruickshank at 12:28 PM
Labels: Castle Airport, Central Valley, CHSRA, funding, HSR, maintenance hub, Merced, Ray LaHood, San Joaquin Valley, stimulus, test track, Visalia
18 comments:
Rob Dawg said...
That Merced-to-Bakersfield ROW is key because that's where the all-important train testing will occur:Only if you assume Merced is the master service node.
Everything involves "Bakersfield." Start there and build north and worry about the "split" later. Rails in the ground and a test track and everyone already agrees on this portion of alignments.
June 1, 2009 1:05 PM
caltrain rider said...
Hmm.. going ahead with building - without the testing.. and so what's the testing for?
June 1, 2009 2:06 PM
Joseph Eisenberg said...
Caltrain rider:
I believe the testing is necessary to prove that the system is "safe" for the feds to sign off. Even though the same trains will have run just fine in Europe or Japan for a decade. Sigh.
June 1, 2009 2:13 PM
Rafael said...
@ Joseph Eisenberg -
the FRA doesn't have any rules for letting trains run at 220mph. At all. That means the top speed HSR can currently run at anywhere in the nation is 150mph.
In addition, CHSRA needs FRA to sign off on mixed traffic in the Fullerton-Anaheim section and the final approach to the new SF Transbay Terminal.
The Obama administration is much keener on HSR than its predecessors, but even so, FRA will insist on covering its bureaucratic behind before signing off on commercial operation of the California network. One huge benefit of choosing steel wheels over maglev technology is that FRA will be able to crib heavily from the Japanese and the Europeans on many issues.
Without a domestic passenger train industry to protect, there's a chance they'll apply common sense and avoid creating a special standard just for the US. On the other hand, bureaucrats are always interested in justifying the existence of their fiefdom, cp. the Acela Express fiasco.
CHSRA's entire business plan hinges on FRA permission to use lightweight, proven, off-the-shelf trainset technology. An ornery FRA could torpedo the project's financial viability by imposing sky-high maintenance and electricity costs for no good reason.
June 1, 2009 3:11 PM
Alex said...
This post has been removed by the author.
June 1, 2009 3:24 PM
Alex said...
I know we already knew the timeline, but sill it is hard to see it again...
7 years before the central valley is ready!?
Did all the Palo Alto nimbys move out and become farmers? :-)
The time it takes to do anything in this country is insane.
June 1, 2009 3:26 PM
Tony D. said...
So let's see: major stimulus cash for the SF-SJ line, nearly 10 years of studying/debate of Bay Area/Central Valley routing, passage of Nov08 Prop. 1A with the knowledge of Pacheco Pass primary routing and FUTURE Altamont Pass HSR overlay. Looks as if that NIMBY/"I wanted Altamont!" frivolous lawsuit will be DOA soon. I know, I know, it wasn't dismissed and will be heard, bla bla bla. But I'm confident that whatever judge hears this crap will have a spine/brain and realize the aformentioned in making a decision.
Imagine this headline: "California lost out in nearly $4 billion in federal high-speed rail stimulus funds because a small group of NIMBY's/those not satisfied with the choice of routing got their way in court. This despite the fact that high-speed rail was supported by a majority of California voters and the primary routing into the Bay Area was the result of nearly a decade of study/debate."
YEAH RIGHT MORRIS!
June 1, 2009 4:00 PM
Morris Brown said...
The joint Assembly/Senate audit committee has passed on a bill to do a full audit of the Authority, which will start Sept 1, and will take 4 to 5 months and involve 1900 man hours from the audit office.
The audit will cover the full time frame that the Authority has been in existence, over 10 years.
June 1, 2009 4:28 PM
Clem said...
Sounds like a lot, but keep in mind that 4 or 5 months and 1900 labor hours is two to three people.
June 1, 2009 6:16 PM
Aaron said...
@Morris: From the ominous tone, one would think that we should be prepared to learn that the HSRA is actually simply a wing of the North Korean military or something.
"Ooh, an audit... we should all run for the hills before the spectre of true evil is raised!"
Maybe we can figure out where all of those missing paperclips went. ;p Personally, I can never find my paperclips...
June 1, 2009 6:51 PM
Alex said...
@clem
Is it really just a matter of only having a few people working on it?
Well, wouldn't hiring more people to hurry things up qualify as stimulus?
June 1, 2009 7:02 PM
Aaron said...
@Alex: I don't think the audit has a bearing on stimulus funding - it's kind of a sideshow.
June 1, 2009 7:04 PM
jim said...
Well it does make sense to get the urban ends done first for the simple matter that they will be the most complicated from the perspective of squeezing the train through congested areas, grade crossings etc. The valley will be a much easier stretch to catch up on later. No one expected to be riding trains before 2020 anyway.
June 1, 2009 11:24 PM
jim said...
Also the dtx and tbt construction is scheduled to be completed at the same time (construction 2012 thru 2019) Do the LA ANA and SF SJ and the yard at merced with test track. then while testing the trains, work on the northern and southern tunnel crossings. It could all come together nicely. That's if all goes well. i mean that is still a pretty tight timeline.
June 1, 2009 11:50 PM
Anonymous said...
Rrrgh. The crucial portion is Bakersfield-LA. How's *that* going? It's got every possible complication, including urban construction and the LA station.
June 2, 2009 12:26 AM
jim said...
Spain gives U.S. official peek at high-speed train system
ASTA SMARTBRIEF | 06/01/2009
Ray Lahood, U.S. secretary of transportation, and Jose Blanco, development minister for Spain, boarded a train in Madrid for a first-hand look at the Spanish high-speed rail system. President Barack Obama has hailed Spain's network as a model for the U.S. Lahood also rode one of France's TGV bullet trains and attended a conference on transportation in Germany. USA TODAY (05/29)
June 2, 2009 12:26 AM
jim said...
Isnt the LA palmdale section following the metrolink route? In any case it doesn't matter because the whole thing needs to be connected and tested before any one is taking any trips. How many years is the tunneling going to take? anyone know?
June 2, 2009 12:31 AM
BruceMcF said...
Thing about tunneling is sometimes it can throw up unpleasant surprises.
One contingency to cover an unpleasant financial surprise is to open some services on a portion of the route, to get the basis for issuing revenue bonds.
June 2, 2009 6:19 AM
No comments:
Post a Comment